The E-mount is a lens mount designed by Sony for their NEX ("New E-mount eXperience") and ILCE series of camcorders and mirrorless cameras. The E-mount supplements Sony's α mount, allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining compatibility with 35mm sensors. E-mount achieves this by: Minimising mechanical complexity, removing mechanical aperture and focus drive. Shortening the flange focal distance to 18 mm compared with earlier offerings from Sony which used 44.5 mm. Reducing the radius of the flange. The short flange focal distance prohibits the use of an optical viewfinder, as a mirror box mechanism cannot be included in this reduced distance. Therefore all E-mount cameras use an electronic viewfinder. History Initially, E-mount was implemented on the Sony α NEX-3 and NEX-5 consumer-targeted devices with APS-C sized sensors. E-mount integration into Sony camcorder products was provided with the Sony Handycam NEX-VG10. On 24 August 2011, new products were announced, specifically the NEX-5N as a successor for the NEX-5, and the NEX-7 as a prosumer product, as well as the NEX-VG20 as the successor to the NEX-VG10. The Sony E-mount was brought to the 35 mm video camera market with the Sony NEX-FS100. The first third-party camera to use the E-mount was the Hasselblad Lunar, announced at Photokina on 18 September 2012 and released in early 2013. In September 2013, Sony announced the first model from new ILCE series, the Sony α3000. In October 2013, the first models with full-frame sensor size were released, the Sony α7 and Sony α7R. On 19 April 2017, Sony revealed their new model Model ILCE-9, the Sony α9, characterized as a professional mirrorless camera system. In September 2017, Sony revealed its VENICE high-end digital cinema camera, which records in 6K 16-bit raw format. Available bodies List of Sony E-mount cameras: Available lenses Third-party lens manufacturers On 8 February 2011, Sony announced the release of the specifications for the E-mount lens system, allowing for third-party lens makers to create lenses for NEX cameras without having to pay royalties. The mount specifications have been released to registered parties since April 2011. Getting a license for the specifications requires approval by Sony and the signing of a non-disclosure agreement. The construction of full-frame manual focus prime lenses without any electronics is relatively easier and less costly than the construction of electronic full-frame autofocus lenses of any kind. This has encouraged lesser known lens companies to